A Message from Arnold Mittelman After a career in not-for-profit and commercial theater spanning more than 40 years I was honored in 2007 to found the National Jewish Theater / Foundation and in 2010 to assume leadership of its Holocaust Theater International...
Angel in the Night
Author(s): Joanna H. Kraus
This drama about a young girl's courage is based on the true story of Marysia Pawlina Szul, a Polish Catholic teen, who saved the lives of four Jewish people during World War II and is honored both in Yad Vashem, Israel, and the Avenue of the Righteous Park, Evanston, IL. In the present, two survivors meet on the occasion of the tree-planting ceremony to honor Marysia Pawlina's deed. In the past, in 1942, a fugitive family who has escaped from a Polish ghetto beg Marysia Pawlina to hide them. At great peril to herself and without her family's knowledge or approval, she is their sole protector and provider for two years. One of the fugitives briefly leaves the hideout and casts suspicion upon Marysia Pawlina. Nazi soldiers arrest, imprison, interrogate and beat her, but she refuses to admit the truth. As the Russian army advances, a Polish guard helps Marysia Pawlina escape. Angel in the Night is a story of courage, compassion and heroism reinforcing the concept that one individual can make a difference and that ultimately love is stronger than hate.
Format: Full-length drama
Cast Size:9M/7F/1 girl
Running Time: 55 minutes
Notes:
Winner of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education Distinguished Play Award (1996, Upper/Secondary).
See also Voices: Plays for Studying the Holocaust, Janet E. Rubin (Scarecrow Press, 1999), a compilation of eight plays, including Angel in the Night, along with related activities and resources for upper elementary, middle and high school students.
Snapshot
Original or Prominent Production:
National Louis University, Evanston, Illinois, April to June 1991.
National Louis University, Evanston, Illinois, April to June 1991.
Original Source Material: The true story of Marysia Pawlina Szul.
Nationality of Author: U.S.
Original Language: English
Publisher:
Production Rights Holder:
HTC Insights
Views, reference and research of interest.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The National Jewish Theater Foundation presented its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award to Alfred Uhry. The presentation took place as part of the Lincoln Center Library event on January 27th 2025 in commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on the 80th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz
Lifetime Achievement Award
On September 30, 2024, French playwright, Mr. Jean Claude Grumberg received the Lifetime Achievement Award. It was presented by NJTF HTII President, Arnold Mittelman with Dominique Trimbur, PhD-Manager for the History of Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, Teaching of the Holocaust of Fondation Pour La Memoir de la Shoah Project.